A New Year

My third year with this group of students, and I’m as anxious as I was the first year in fourth grade with them. I’ve been studying all summer; Carol Dwecks Growth Mindset and the psychology around her theories, reading up on young adult books to use as guided reading and bell work topics with the class, and learning from my new professional development family on Twitter.

I will admit, I’m like a new teacher! I have so many wonderful ideas churning in my head; thank you to VK for introducing me to Twitter . This year I am incorporating a classroom blog, Twitter summaries, (hashtag)and specific, targeted strategies to help all my students grow as readers. Most importantly, I am keeping what I know works with this group of students. In the last two years, I have seen my students grow from shy, timid writers to positive, team players. Their mind sets have changed, their attitude about failure and struggles have changed. I can’t wait to hear what obstacles they overcame this summer. And I can’t wait to hear how their failures led them to new adventures!